Everlasting
by Cassidy Alice
Summary: "Now that I got you back, I'm never letting go of you again." AU


_A/N: Trying my hand at more percabeth and killing two birds with one stone. This was a request from someone on tumblr for a long-distance percabeth AU, but it evolved from a drabble into this and since it's Percy's birthday, I thought I might as well as make a fic out of it. Hope it's decent!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. _

* * *

**Everlasting **

Percy's apartment was surprisingly neat and that scared him. He'd come home from a long day at work and had been ready to relax and catch up on some shows, but he found he wasn't in the mood. His favorite show was airing, but Percy didn't really feel up to watching it. Besides, it had only been his favorite show because it was Annabeth's favorite and he loved watching her watch it. She was usually so engrossed she hardly noticed when he started playing with her curls or when he dozed on her. Usually, if she was doing anything else, she'd push him away, but Percy had learned that when it came to her favorite shows, Annabeth didn't really mind what Percy was doing so long as she could watch her show. Percy had come to love that show simply because he got away with playing with her hair or practically sleeping on top of her, but without Annabeth, he didn't want to watch it. So, he'd taken to cleaning to pass the time.

Cleaning his apartment wouldn't have been his first choice of distraction, but Percy's options were severely limited at the moment. Most of his friends were busy and Percy didn't really want to wander around the city by himself. He thought of going to a bar, but he'd only ever gone with his friends and he never really drank anything at bars, so it would be pointless to go. He thought of skyping with Annabeth but she was probably still at work, given the time difference and Percy didn't want to disturb her. And so, he cleaned his apartment for lack of anything better to do. And when he'd finished, he microwaved the last slice of left over pizza, and lounged on the sofa, aimlessly flipping through channels.

What a way to spend a birthday, he thought, sighing to himself.

He'd have probably wallowed a bit longer in self-pity (something he didn't do very often), but the ringing of his phone drew him out of his thoughts. He recognized the ringtone easily and scrambled to answer it.

"Annabeth! Hi!"

His girlfriend's laugh never sounded so beautiful.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain. You sound happy."

"Only because my girlfriend, who I miss a lot, by the way, is calling me."

"I miss you too," Annabeth said, softly. Percy had to strain to hear over all the background noise. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"It's not a happy birthday if you're not here," was Percy's reply. "I wish you weren't across the country."

"Me too," Annabeth replied. "But it's not forever. As soon as can find a job in New York, I'm coming home."

"Speaking of jobs, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Percy wondered.

"I am," Annabeth said. "But, I got off a couple hours early."

"Cool. So, any plans for the evening?"

"Just visiting a friend who I haven't seen in a while."

"Cool." There was a lull in their conversation before Percy spoke again. "I miss you. I was so bored today, I cleaned the apartment."

"You didn't go out with the guys?" Annabeth wondered.

Percy shook his head before remembering Annabeth couldn't see him.

"No, they were all busy." He said. "I was hoping we could skype later, but if you're heading out…"

"Yeah, I'll have to take a rain check on that," Annabeth said, not sounding too distressed about it. If there was one thing Percy knew, it was that Annabeth loved their skype calls as much as he did and never missed one. Even that one time she had the flu, she'd called him…mostly to dissuade him from dropping everything and flying to California to take care of her. But still, Annabeth never missed a call and she'd sacrificed plenty of outings to stay in and chat with him, so Percy didn't understand why this time was any different, but he didn't question it. He wanted to ask her to stay, but that would be selfish and he figured he'd already been selfish enough, keeping her from enjoying her evenings plenty of other times. So, he mentioned nothing of his loneliness and just smiled, even though Annabeth couldn't see it.

"Have fun," he said. "We can do the call tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Annabeth said. "Love you and miss you."

Percy frowned when he realized the increase in background noise, but said nothing of it. "Me too. Talk to you tomorrow."

Annabeth's reply was drowned out in all the background noise and the line went dead. Dejected, Percy pocketed his cell phone and went back to aimlessly flipping through channels.

In all honestly, Percy couldn't say how he managed to stay up late, but somehow he did. He wasn't feeling the least bit sleepy and flipping through channels got boring pretty quickly, but at least it kept him occupied. So Percy flipped and flipped and flipped, changing from channel to channel until 12:07 when his doorbell rang and someone knocked on his door.

Only Jason ever came over at odd hours, so Percy didn't find it too surprising. Only mildly annoying.

"I swear, Jason, you are never going to get Piper to marry you if you keep getting kicked out. What did you do this time?"

When he opened the door, however, it wasn't Jason standing there. It was a blonde, but definitely not Jason.

"Surprise?" Annabeth laughed. Percy just gaped at her, unable to grasp that she was really, truly here. "Now are you going to let me in or what, Seaweed Brain? Your pizza is getting cold and the ice cream cake is melting."

Belatedly, Percy realized she was holding a box of pizza and another with his cake in it. He wasted no time in pulling her in and taking the boxes from her and then kissing her like there was no tomorrow. When he pulled away, he grinned.

"You're here!" He exclaimed.

"I'm here." Annabeth nodded, laughing.

"But you said you were visiting a friend and you were in California and…"

Annabeth leaned up to kiss him once more and grinned. "I am visiting a friend, aren't I?"

"Point taken. How are you here?"

"I took a plane, genius."

"Why?"

"To surprise you for your birthday, obviously."

Percy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and pulled her impossibly closer.

"You're the best girlfriend, ever."

"Can't breathe." Annabeth teased, feigning being crushed against him.

"Too bad. Now that I got you back, I'm never letting go of you again."

"Not even to eat your birthday dinner and cake?"

Percy looked slightly conflicted and Annabeth laughed, her gray eyes twinkling.

"Well, maybe for the food, but that's it." He said, kissing her one last time before moving to put the cake away and get plates for the pizza. Annabeth wasted no time in helping him. Even though it had been a while since she'd visited Percy's apartment, she was pleased to discover nothing had changed. And she told Percy as much.

"What would change?"

Annabeth shrugged. "We've been in a long-distance relationship for three years. Anything could have happened. You might have replaced me."

Percy snorted. "As if," he said, stealing a sip of her drink. "No one could replace you and besides, it'd be far too much work finding a replacement who's even half as awesome as you."

Annabeth didn't say anything; she didn't need to. Her smile and the sparkle in her eyes said it all.

Before Percy could reiterate how much he missed her, Annabeth reminded him about his cake and they cut it and ate it, mostly in silence. Having cake on a late night with Annabeth felt so normal, Percy could imagine doing it all the time. Being with Annabeth again, it was almost as if she'd never moved to San Francisco. Neither of them had changed much (Annabeth had only grown prettier and he supposed he'd turned into somewhat of a neat-freak after his random cleaning sessions), but their interactions were as they had always been and they were still as in love now as they were before Annabeth had moved. He loved having Annabeth over and he realized, unsurprisingly of course, that didn't know what he'd do when she left.

"Hey."

Annabeth's voice drew Percy out of his reverie and he glanced at her.

"It's getting late. We'd better clean up."

Percy nodded and made a move to collect all the dishes while Annabeth put away the cake and wrapped up the left over pizza.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you an actual present," Annabeth said, smiling apologetically. "I was going to but then I suddenly thought of surprising you and in planning this trip, it kind of slipped my mind. Sorry about that and for showing up after midnight since it's technically not your birthday anymore."

"Don't be," Percy said, wrapping his arms around her. "I don't need a present when I have you. I'm really glad you came."

Annabeth buried her face in his shoulder and mumbled something inaudible. The two stayed like that for a moment before Annabeth gave a quick gasp.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"My luggage is still outside your door."

"Oh."

In all the excitement, Percy had forgotten to bring in Annabeth's luggage and she must've been thrilled to see him too, because she hadn't remembered until now.

"I'll help you bring it in," he offered, opening the door and poking his head out into the hall. He was surprised to find that Annabeth had three suitcases and two duffel bags with her.

"Geez, Annie, did you bring your whole house?"

"Yes," she said, perfectly serious. "And it's Annabeth. Not Annie."

"C'mon, Wise Girl. I haven't seen you in person since Christmas and you're still insisting that I don't call you…" He trailed off when he realized her response. "You brought all your belongings with you?"

"Yes."

"…I don't get it," Percy said, after a brief pause. Nonetheless, he rolled the suitcases in while Annabeth carried the bags. "Why…?"

"I did say I'd come home if I found a job here."

Percy gaped at her.

"Close your mouth, Seaweed Brain. You'll catch flies otherwise."

"You're staying?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Funny thing is, Piper would always call me and talk about your nice big apartment and how lonely you'd get. I figured I'd help with the loneliness and too much space issue…assuming the offer from college stands?"

Percy hadn't forgotten about that. He'd done his best to persuade Annabeth to move in with him after they'd both graduated but she'd been set on taking the job in San Francisco and following her dreams of becoming an architect. Percy had been sad to see her go, but he'd been ever so grateful she'd agreed to a long distance relationship and had long entertained the thought of asking her to move in with him again. Now, Annabeth was practically asking to do so and Percy realized he'd be a fool to say no.

"Yes!" He cried, picking her up and spinning her around.

Annabeth squealed (and Annabeth Chase _never_ squealed) and pounded her boyfriend's back. "Percy Jackson, put me down." Percy did and Annabeth opened her mouth to say something but never got the chance. Percy's lips were soon on hers and any thoughts of scolding him completely melted away.

"You're the best girlfriend ever," he said, punctuating each word with a kiss. "Really."

Annabeth smiled fondly at him and ruffled his hair. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Okay," he said, as Annabeth hugged him again and buried her face in his shirt. "I'm hopelessly in love with you and I think I want to marry you."

"You think you want to marry me?" Annabeth repeated, momentarily pulling back to gaze up at him.

Percy nodded. "I'm torn between asking you right now while I'm feeling brave enough or waiting to buy a ring and take you out and then ask."

"So, was that a proposal?"

"If you want it to be," Percy said, grinning.

Annabeth looked pensive for a few seconds before smiling. "Alright."

Percy blinked. "What?"

"I guess we're getting married," she laughed. "Don't tell me you're suddenly changing your mind."

"Nothing is ever going to change my mind." He promised. Annabeth just grinned and Percy intertwined his fingers with hers.

It was funny to think that a short while ago, he'd been bored out of his mind and pining for Annabeth and now she was here and he'd somehow found the courage (or boldness, perhaps) to smoothly propose and she'd accepted. He grinned, remembering all the times his coworkers had told him long-distance relationships didn't work and that he'd end up with a broken heart. Truthfully, though, Percy supposed he had the long distance relationship to thank because if it was possible, he was more in love with Annabeth now than ever before. That said, however, he was never letting his fiancée move across the country without him again.

"It's a good thing you came back when you did," Percy said, later that night as they organized some of Annabeth's stuff. "I don't know how much longer I'd have lasted here before caving in and flying to San Francisco to be with you."

"You'd really have done that?"

"Of course. We've been best friends since we were twelve. That's the kind of stuff you do for people who you've been friends with for twelve years."

"Thirteen, Seaweed Brain. Do the math properly."

"Whatever. My point is: I really missed you and being at opposite ends of the country sucked."

"I agree, which is why I'm here." Annabeth said.

"And you're not planning on going back?"

"Not unless you come with me, I guess."

"Good, because you're not getting away from again. As fun as it was skyping with you, I prefer being with you in person." Percy said, smiling at her and flopping back on his bed. Annabeth joined him and curled up at his side.

"Me too." She agreed, closing her eyes and sighing in content. Percy just wrapped an arm around her and drifted off.

In the morning neither of them were entirely well-rested and they were both more than a little late to work (which was more of a problem for Annabeth because it was her first day at the new branch, after all) but they didn't really have it in them to care since Percy's boss was pretty understanding and Annabeth was shown some leniency since she'd only arrived to town the night before and must've been suffering some jet lag. The only thing that mattered was that they were together and content and, frankly, that was the best feeling in the world.


End file.
